Sean Brady surprised the MMA world by submitting welterweight contender Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC London at The O2 Arena on Saturday night.
The Philadelphia-based grappler secured a guillotine choke victory in the fourth round, becoming the first fighter to ever finish the usually resilient Edwards.
The fight started competitively with both men trading shots on the feet. Edwards landed some sharp counters early, while Brady’s initial clinch attempts were met with punishing knees. However, the complexion of the match changed dramatically in the second round when Brady committed to his wrestling.
“I think he was too worried about Bilal,” Brady said in his post-fight interview, suggesting Edwards had been looking past him. “He was too worried about how tall I am. He was too worried about a bunch of other things that didn’t matter. And yeah, it showed tonight. He got smoked.”
Brady’s grappling superiority was evident throughout the contest. After securing a takedown in the second round, he established a body triangle and maintained dominant position. Edwards struggled to create space or improve his position against Brady’s smothering top control.
The third round saw more of the same as Edwards attempted to keep the fight standing, landing an uppercut and elbow early. But a critical error came when Edwards attempted his own takedown, allowing Brady to counter and gain top position once again.
The finishing sequence came in the fourth round when Brady pressed Edwards against the fence, secured another takedown, and locked in the fight-ending guillotine choke. Despite Edwards’ desperate attempt to fight the hands, he was forced to tap.
“Leon likes to be like a pretty striker,” Brady explained. “He likes to have his range and have things go on his terms. And once they start going off his terms, he does dumb stuff like shoot on me. And then it goes downhill from there.”
The victory catapults Brady into the upper echelon of the welterweight division. While it remains to be seen if this performance is enough to leapfrog Shavkat Rakhmonov in the title picture, Brady has certainly established himself as a legitimate championship contender.
For Edwards, this marks a significant setback in front of his home crowd, who voiced their disappointment as their countryman suffered his first submission loss in the UFC.
Leon, ne Kamaru maçında ne de Belal maçında bu kadar bully’lenmemişti. Kamaru karşısında raundları kaybetmiş ama geri dönmeyi başarmıştı; Belal maçında ise en azından bir ya da iki raundu kazanmıştı. Sean Brady ise ikinci raunddan sonra Leon’un resmen mentalini yok etti. pic.twitter.com/EuZ1iQBP6R
— georgian (@qartvelo0) March 23, 2025
